The Perfect Gift
by dave-d
Summary: The shinobi worked in secret to put together a holiday gift for Hinata. They also needed to keep Naruto from seeing it.


The sound of glasses clinking together could be heard.

Music was playing in the background, barely heard over the cheerful conversations spread throughout the large meeting hall.

Large tables were covered with platters and dishes of holiday food, while huge glass bowls held all manners of punch, eggnog, and other festive concoctions. Tall candles and wax tapers burned brightly, and small lit cones of incense filled the room with the scent of evergreens.

"I can't wait," Kurenai said, a smile on her face. "This was a_ very_ good idea, Kiba. I never knew you had in you."

"Neither did I," Shino said, deep within the cowl of his newer style robes.

"Hey! Shikamaru's not the only genius," Kiba said, grinning.

"**WOOF!"**

Akamaru's bark had a few people jumping and sloshing their drinks.

"It still needed a lot of careful coordination," Sakura said. "It wasn't the easiest of missions, you know."

"That's right," Ino said. "You did a wonderful jobshepherding things." That was directed to Kurenai.

"Thank you," Kurenai said. "It's not over yet. We still need to get her over here where we can give it to her."

"Without _you-know-who_ seeing!" Ten Ten grinned, picturing what was going to happen.

"Neji's taking care of that last part," Lee said. "_Ohhhh-hhh-hh-h_… I hate any kind of deception during this festive day… but, this could not be done in any other way."

"**ARF ARF ARF ARF!"**

Akamaru's call startled a group of genin working on a long ladder, placing ornaments on a tall cut Christmas tree. The ladder tipped over, dropping the shinobi on the floor.

"She's here," Kiba said. "Shino and I will bring her over here. I'll tell her that you want to meet with all of us." He saluted Kurenai and then left with Akamaru and Shino in tow.

"I hope it turned out well," Shikamaru said. "It was all very bothersome." He sighed.

"Where's your holiday spirit, drag-about?" Ino chided her teammate. She took a packet of mistletoe that Ten Ten handed her secretly. She'd hold it over his head later.

"Yes!" Choji looked like a kid given free reign at a candy shop. "This is such a wonderful day." He alone had kept the dishwashers in the kitchen area up to their elbows in sudsy water and dirty plates. "I wish we had something like this _every_ week."

"Oh! That's clever…" Kurenai said, pointing. "Neji's got him busy decorating. I wonder how he managed that."

They all turned to look. Dozens of Naruto clones were leaping and climbing about the room, hanging freshly cut cedar boughs, stringing lights, and putting additional wreaths in place.

"Knowing Naruto, Neji probably said that he doubted anyone could get things finished in time." Ten Ten sighed, thinking about her teammate. "We have a number of geniuses, you know."

"And Naruto is _not_ one of them," Sakura said smiling. She was very fond of her teammate; but, she had no illusions about him. He could come up with a brilliant if unorthodox solution one moment, and then rush headlong into idiocy the next.

"I'll drink to that!" Gai banged his glass against Asuna's. "Sakura has turned out to be quite clever, my old rival." He smiled at Kakashi, who was busy sliding sugar cookies under his mask. "But, your team is no match for mine." He gave Lee a big thumbs up.

"Did you say something?" The Copy Ninja brushed some crumbs off his mask. Everyone else laughed and clinked their mugs and goblets together.

"Looks like the conspirators are all here," Anko said, walking over to join the group. Dressed in festive green leather, she carried a whip that someone had given her as a holiday gift." There's too much light here, though. We don't want everyone gathering around." With arm movements that were barely visible, she snapped the whip a number of times, knocking the flame off of a series of candle wicks.

"I'll see if Tsunade and Shizune made it to the party," Sakura said, knowing they might want to see this first hand. While it was nothing important or earth-shattering, it was a special little moment, the kind that the weary ninjas had little time to enjoy as a group those days. "Don't let her unwrap it without me being here…"

"So, how did things go?" Asuna had only been peripherally aware of things. It was not his kind of thing, and he hadn't been given one of the tasks.

"_Ahhhhh-hhhh-hhh-hh-h_…" Lee struck a pose. That had Gai saluting him with a mug of eggnog. "I was assigned February. I chose a session at the training fields. Sakura is in the picture, too" As he spoke the medical ninja's name, his eyes took on a faraway look.

"I had July," Ino said. "I came across him standing with Lee and Gai. They were all posing." She began to snicker. She broke out in laughter when she saw the looks on Gai's and Lee's faces.

"That's perfect," Ten Ten said. "I had September. It took me a while to get the ideal shot. You should have seen all of the Ramen bowls."

"I wondered who get _that_ one," Choji said. That was the last assignment anyone would have given him. He would have been too distracted to follow through. "I had January. He and Shikamaru were lying on their back, watching clouds."

"I managed to get one from a mission," Kakashi said. "It was for March. A large number of clones, each holding Rasengan." He used a straw to drink through his mask.

"Seasons greetings, everyone." Iruka joined the group. "I took care of November. Naruto, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Choji, and Shikamaru eating ice cream cones."

"Neji?" Ten Ten's eyes went wide. Somehow, she never pictured her teammate doing something like that. Maybe she could get him to take _her_ for ice cream, when the weather got warm again.

_"Shino?"_ Sakura and Ino looked at one another, certain they must have heard the name wrong. That had Shino frowning.

"Ino told me that I had to do August," Shikamaru said, a hang-dog look on his face. "I came across him sitting with Kakashi and Jiraiya. All three were reading those books."

"**_What!"_** Ino looked on aghast. "You're joking, _right?"_ She glared at her teammate. "That's not the kind of thing we wanted!"

"I think it's great," Anko said, still wondering why Kurenai had asked her to contribute.

"Me too," Kiba said, walking up. "Shino's bringing her over, after she gets some food. I had October. It's a classic, never to be duplicated. I snapped a shot of Sakura, Ino, and Ten Ten surrounding him, shaking their fingers." He demonstrated, much to the chagrin of the girls. That included Sakura, who chose that very moment to return with Shizune and the Hokage. "I never found out what he did that made them so upset." He looked over at the girls.

Sakura, Ino, and Ten Ten all folded their arms across their chests and made it a point to look away. That had everyone one else chuckling.

"I like the sound of that one," Shikamaru said. "You certainly do have your moments." He banged his glass with Kiba. That earned him a withering glance form Ino. He sighed again.

"Shino had June…" Kiba was interrupted.

"_Shhhhh-hhhh-hhh-hh-h_…" Kurenai shushed her team member. "Here she comes."

"**AROOOOO-OOOO-OOO-OO-O"**

Akamaru's howled warning was unnecessary. As Shino lead Hinata over to the corner of the room her friends had staked out, the other shinobi did their best to look nonchalant. Ten Ten flashed out of view, returning with Neji.

"Here, let me take that for you…" Kureani took a plate and glass from Hinata's hands and placed them on a nearby table. "Before everyone exchanges gifts, we wanted to present you with something special."

"A lot of people were involved," Kiba said.

"Including myself," Shino added, not wanting to be overlooked.

"Thank you," Hinata said, looking at each of her friends. "What is it?"

"Open it up," Sakura said. "We don't want to ruin the surprise." She smiled, biting her lip in anticipation.

"OK." Hinata opened a very large box with a huge bow and ribbon. There was another wrapped item inside that. "I wonder…" She turned the flat rectangular object over in her hands. "Here goes…" She began tearing of the paper.

Everyone crowded in a little closer, wanting to catch the look on her face.

"It must be a calendar," Hinata said. The front cover was made from nicely cut leather, with the coming year's date inlaid with gold leaf. She wondered why everyone seemed breathless. "Let's see what's…" Her eyes went impossibly wide. After flipping through a couple of pages, she fainted.

"**Told you!"** Kiba laughed.

"It didn't take a genius to predict_ that_ one," Ino said.

Kurenai used the calendar as a fan, blowing air on Hinata's face. After a few moments, the younger girl regained full consciousness.

"So, do you like it?" Neji asked sarcastically, a rare smile on his face. "You know you'll have to keep your father from finding it."

"Ummm… it's…" Hinata took the calendar back from Kurenai and hugged it to her. "It's wonderful…" Tears came to her eyes. "Thank you all so very much…" There was a picture of Naruto for every month of the year ahead. Many of her friends appeared in the photos as well.

"Take a look at December," Anko said. "I took that one. It saves the best for last." She had originally handed in a much tamer proof to Kurenai. But, she visited the printer's shop later, saying there had been a last minute substitution. She had also asked to have the final product delivered already wrapped.

"December… is it a holiday picture… or one of everyone together?" Hinata flipped through the calendar, looking in wonder at some of the other months. "Here it…" She keeled over again.

"I snuck into Naruto's apartment," Anko said. "He never expected anyone to burst in on him in the shower…" Naturally, that caused quite a stir. The girls all began fussing at Anko, while the guys passed around the calendar shaking their heads.

Kurenai was very upset at first, until Anko handed her a large sealed envelope. "Here," Anko said. "It's not as if I don't have _any _holiday cheer." It was a replacement page for December, one made with the original photo. It was indeed a group shot, one she had told Naruto would be used as a Christmas card.

"**Oi!** Did everyone start without me?" Naruto ran up, wondering what was going on. _"Hey!_ Old Lady…" He looked over at Tsunade. "What's wrong with Hinata?"

"She'll be fine," Shizune said. "You know Hinata…"

"Third time's the charm," Kiba whispered to Shino. He was pretty certain that their teammate was not finished with her fainting.

"What's that Hinata?" Naruto pointed to the calendar when Kurenai helped the smaller woman to her feet. "Can I see?"

Sakura and Ino rushed to catch Hinata as she toppled over.

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END


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